‘Pakistan mei operate hai’: Ex-RPF jawan’s viral speech from 2023 train firing repeated in Thane court

RPF jawan Chetan Chaudhry shot his superior and the three other passengers in a moving Jaipur-Mumbai Superfast Express on July 31, 2023.

The video clip of the speech made by former RPF jawan Chetan Singh Chaudhry, accused of fatally shooting a senior officer and three Muslim passengers on the Jaipur-Mumbai Superfast Express on July 31, 2023, which had gone viral online at the time, was the focus of court proceedings on Wednesday.

RPF constable Chetan Kumar Choudhary is charged with murder and promoting enmity on grounds of religion. (PTI)

The video was also received via WhatsApp by Government Railway Police (GRP) constable Jyotiram Khote, who testified during Chaudhry’s trial on Wednesday.

Chaudhry, who used his service rifle to shoot his superior and the three other passengers in the moving Mumbai-bound train, is charged with murder and promoting enmity on grounds of religion. He is an undertrial in the Thane Central Jail.

On Wednesday, Khote repeated in court what he had seen and heard in the video clip. Chaudhry, who was on escort duty that night, was wearing his police uniform and holding a rifle, said Khote, and was saying: “Inhone maara; Pakistan mein operate hai. Tumhari media coverage dikha rahi hai... Unka aaka baitha hai, usko pata chal raha hai… Agar vote dena hai, Hindustan mein rehna hai, to main kehta hoon Modi aur Yogi, yeh do hain, aur aapke Thackeray.’’ (“These [people] have killed... They were being operated from Pakistan and your media is giving [them] coverage. Their boss is sitting [there]; he is aware of it. I am telling you, if you want to vote, if you want to live in Hindustan, it is only [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi and [Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath] Yogi, these two, and your Thackeray.”)

Some passengers could be seen in the viral video recording Chaudhry’s speech on their mobile phones, said Khote. The video showed that, as he delivered his speech, one of the passengers, later identified as Asghar Abbas Ali Shaikh, lay bleeding and fatally injured at his feet.

Shehzad Pathan, lawyer for Shaikh’s wife, who is an intervenor in the case, was present in court on Wednesday.

Thirty-year-old Khote, the 18th prosecution witness to testify in the trial, told additional public prosecutor Sudhir Sapkale that he had downloaded the video received on WhatsApp and shown it to his superior officer, Inspector Kadam, at the Borivali railway police station, where Khote was then posted.

The video was then downloaded onto a laptop by assistant police inspector Patil, and copied on a pen drive. A panchnama of this was drawn up in the presence of two panch witnesses summoned by Patil. Khote signed the panchnama, which was shown to him in court.

Sapkale asked the court’s permission to play the video clip in court, but defence counsel Jaywant Patil objected, saying he had not received a copy of it. In fact, he said, his application to be provided a copy was on record.

Recording the defence’s objection, Additional Sessions Judge P V Chatur said the accused had the right to receive all copies of documents relied upon by the prosecution, including digital documents. He deferred the examination in chief till the prosecution supplied copies of all digital documents to the defence.

However, Sapkale informed the court that the only copy of the video was on the pen drive, which was with the court under seal.

The correct legal position on this matter will be discussed at the next hearing on April 8.